The legislation allows the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute government contractors and employees for certain crimes committed overseas.  Tragedies like the 2007 killing of unarmed civilians in Baghdad by private security contractors with Blackwater underscore the need for clear jurisdiction and trained investigative and prosecutorial task forces able to hold wrongdoers accountable. Four Blackwater guards involved in the Nisour Square shooting are currently on trial.

“The Blackwater trial is only just now under way, seven years after this tragedy, and the defendants continue to argue in court that the U.S. government does not have jurisdiction to prosecute them,” SenatorLeahy said. “This bill would also provide greater protection to American victims of crime, as it would lead to more accountability for crimes committed by U.S. government contractors and employees against Americans working abroad.”

“Although the number of American military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan has been reduced in recent years, our commitment to the rule of law has not, and closing the accountability gap for U.S. contractors operating overseas is more urgent than ever,” Representative Price said. “We have seen the peril of allowing firms such as Blackwater to operate in a legal no-man’s land—a few bad actors can put our international relationships at risk and undermine the missions we ask our military and diplomatic personnel to complete. The bottom line is: if contractors working on behalf of the United States commit crimes abroad, DOJ should be able to prosecute them.”

CEJA also lays the groundwork to expand U.S. preclearance operations in Canada – which would enhance national security and facilitate commerce and tourism with our largest trading partner. The United States currently stations U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers in select locations in Canada to inspect passengers and cargo bound for the United States before they leave Canada, and Leahy has long called for an expansion of land, rail, marine and air preclearance operations that would greatly benefit the U.S. economy. CEJA would ensure that the U.S. has legal authority to hold our own officials accountable if they engage in wrongdoing, and thereby help pave the way to finalizing the expanded Canada preclearance agreement.

Other provisions in the Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act include:

• Expand criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes committed by United States employees and contractors overseas;

• Direct the Justice Department to create new investigative task forces to investigate, arrest and prosecute contractors and employees who commit serious crimes overseas;

• Require the Attorney General to report annually to Congress about the offenses prosecuted under the statute and the use of new investigative resources.

The text of the Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act is available online.

But instead of Mr Carroll, a former member of the elite Navy SEAL Team Six, being disciplined, Mr Richter was the one sent home. U.S. Embassy officials in Baghdad told him he had to end his investigation and leave Iraq because he was disrupting the security options Blackwater was providing for diplomatic staff, the New York Times reports.

ust over two weeks later, Blackwater contractors opened fire in Baghdad's Nisour Square, allegedly killing 17 civilians and wounding 20 others. The incident caused massive outrage among the Iraqi public and is believed to be one reason Iraqi leaders refused to agree to allow U.S. troops to stay in the country past 2011.

Mr Richter claims: 'Mr. Carroll’s statement was made in a low, even tone of voice, his head was slightly lowered; his eyes were fixed on mine. I took Mr. Carroll’s threat seriously. We were in a combat zone where things can happen quite unexpectedly, especially when issues involve potentially negative impacts on a lucrative security contract.'

Mr Carroll has not commented publicly on the allegations. Despite his abbreviated visit to Iraq, Mr Richter's report paints a damning picture of Blackwater, which was paid more than $1billion to guard American diplomats.

He comments in his report that 'Blackwater contractors saw themselves as "above the law" and actually believed that they "ran the place."'

Mr Ritcher details a pattern of drunken partying by Blackwater contractors, including with female visitors.

In one incident, he describes four guards drunkenly commandeered a $180,000 armored vehicle to drive to a party and then crashed it into a blast barrier.

Contractors kept their weapons in their personal quarters, despite rules against it, and carried all manner of automatic weapons, machine guns and rocket launchers - even when the contractors were not certified to use them, according to the report.

Blackwater guards were also alleged to frequently run Iraqi civilian cars off the road and fire into neighborhoods, sometimes even killing civilians, Mr Richter alleges.

Mr Richter's review also found the company's security operations lacking. The contractor often reduced or otherwise changed the number of men assigned to a protective detail without getting permission from the State Department.

They also over-billed the State Department and falsified records, Richter alleges.

A Blackwater-affiliated contractor also allegedly mistreated migrants it hired to work in its security compound, offering them low wages and squalid conditions for housing - including packing three men in a tiny room with no bed.

The company was also accused of badly mismanaging a cafeteria on its compound, providing unsanitary and substandard food. Conditions were so bad, a U.S. military officer wrote a letter to the State Department saying it should be shut down.

Blackwater was sold in 2010 and the new owners changed its name to Academi. A spokeswoman for Academi, based in Virginia, declined to comment.

Iraqi officials had demanded to try to Blackwater guards alleged to have committed the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Iraqi courts. However, in 2008, the U.S. government indicted 14 security contractors on charges related to the shooting.

In 2009, a federal judge threw out all charges.  However, an appeals court allowed the charges to go forward. The case is still pending.